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A wood stork had pulled a huge mullet out of the salt marsh during low tide and was struggling to get it down when this egret came strolling through the scene. Notice how the egret totally ignores Woody who looks like he would prefer nobody bother him while in the process of trying to enjoy dinner.

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This afternoon I was over at the marsh watching some spoonbills feeding off in the distance and hoping they might eventually fly my way.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spot this bald eagle come screaming in at full speed and I knew he must be on a mission! He flew right over my head, so close I could not fit all of him in the camera lens. I immediately saw the object of his attention, he was chasing an osprey that was carrying a partially consumed fish. It’s likely the osprey was relaxing in a tree eating his catch when he got rudely chased out by the eagle.

I could tell from the look on the eagle’s face that he meant serious business and he proceeded to chase the osprey all over the marsh area, from water to tree top level.

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Here are a few spoonie shots from yesterday afternoon in the salt marsh.

In the last photo you can see a group of wood storks feeding in the background.

It was a busy day out there too. We had black skimmers, a couple of alligators, assorted egrets, ibis, and herons, and naturally Radar was there to oversee it all. I’ll have to post some shots of our head egret in charge soon, he is quite the character!

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Yesterday afternoon there was an osprey circling above the marsh pond hunting for a tasty fish. When I saw him dive down and hit the water I was excited to see that, but was not happy that the location would make him 100% backlit.

I banged off a few shots anyway and could immediately tell the osprey would be lost in all that spray from the splash. But I stayed with it and saw that he did indeed catch a fish which he proceeded to show off by flying right in front of me on his way across the marsh.

I knew there was a bald eagle in a tree on the far side of the marsh pond and expected the eagle to come blasting in to try to steal the osprey’s prize. But the eagle never budged so the osprey got to keep his fish this time.

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As is typical…two snowy egrets can not get along and fish quietly together in the salt marsh. It’s not good enough to just chase off your friend, you have to take it to the air and continue to make your point. These guys rarely fail to put on an entertaining display!

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This snowy egret appears completely flustered after losing sight of a fish in the salt marsh! I saw the fish too, and it quickly swam straight out and away from where the egret is standing, you can even see the trail the fish left in the water. Unfortunately for snowball however…he’s still looking down directly in front of him which is where the fish was…but not anymore!